Uranium
Atomic Number: 92
Uranium is the 92nd element in the periodic table and it is part of the actinide family. It is a silvery-grey, hard, dense, malleable, radioactive metal. Uranium is dangerous if you breathe in too much and could cause lunge cancer. Uranium is also an alpha emitter which releases alpha particles. Uranium is very important because it is used as nuclear fuel used to generate electricity in nuclear power plants. Uranium-235 is used in nuclear weapons as well in combination with plutonium-239. This uranium is enriched uranium which is very dangerous. Uranium can be found under the ground in places such as Australia, Kazakhstan, and Canada. It isn't a rare element and is 40 times more common than silver. Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist. As you might expect, uranium was named after the planet Uranus, which had been discovered eight years earlier. |
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